how many days?
Amsterdam is a small city, so 2-3 days are enough for sightseeing and even one visit to a museum.
If you are into museums, then you may need some additional days.
If you have a spare day, I recommend to visit villages like Vollendam, Marken, Zaans Schans.
You can take a tour or go on your own by public transport.
what to see?
There is plenty of info on the internet about what to visit, so I will not explain in detail. Below some of the main touristic points.
TYPICAL FOOD
Besides cheese, some typical things are bitterballen, stamppot and herring. Sweets like poffertjes and stroopwafels.
You can read here for more info.
where to eat & drink?
You can find restaurants here for all budgets. The Netherlands does not have a broad traditional cuisine, that´s why it has a big variety of international restaurants: Ethiopian, Vietnamese, Pakistani, Israeli...
Here some restaurant recommendations for the fodies with a good quality price ratio:
Cafe Gollen is a Belgium beer bar which offers dishes all cooked in beer. I recommend the steak and the burger.
Cafe de Klos serves the best barbecue in town, with the speciality of spare ribs. There is usually 2 hours waiting list, so it is better if you go right after they open.
Lalibela is an Ethiopian restaurant.
Little Thai Prince which offers Thai cuisine.
Foodhallen is an industrial unit full of international food stands. It is a different place; it has also cinema and art expositions.
Cannibale Royale is a good place for meat.
There are many breweries all over the city. Some recommendations are:
Brouwerij 't IJ is a brewery located inside a windmill. You must try the 5-beers-tasting in order to decide which one you like the most.
Proeflokaal de Prael Apart from its variety of different beers, they serve food.
Bier Fabriek is a bar with a great environment, full of peanut sacks. The speciality is a free range chicken which has been macerated in olive oil for 24 hours. The beer tastes awesome in companion to the chicken.
Museums
The Van Gogh museum is good for people who do not like the museums too much. It is strongly advised to take the audio guide (5 euros) that takes you through the gallery telling the life of the painter.
You will need between 2-3 hours for this museum.
Rijkmuseum is for art lovers and for people who have enough time to visit the museum as it is huge and there is a lot to see.
Preferably do not go on the weekends because it is too crowded.
You can read more info here.
Some say that it is just a house, others say that they felt just like the book... My personal advice is you just do what you feel like.
Take into consideration the huge queues(2 hours easily). If possible, go on Monday morning, otherwise, if you go during the weekend, try to be there at 08:30 to be one of ther first ones.
These 3 are the main museums, but Amsterdam has a total of 75 museums. The Netherlands boasts the largest number of museums per square kilometre in the world, having more than 400 museums.
It is worth buying the museumkaart if you plan to visit more than 2 museums. It grants you access to all the museums skipping queues (except for Anne Frank that you have to queue anyway).
FROM AIRPORT TO CITY CENTER
Taking a train is the easiest way to go from the airport towards Amsterdam Central.
You have to buy the tickets in the yellow machines, but they only accept payment by card.
If the card is not working, you can pay by cash in the train desks.
Other alternatives to the train are bus or taxi.
public TRANSPORt & CITY card
Public transport is expensive. It may be a good option to buy the anonymous card. It costs 7.50 and it can be reloaded as many times as you want. It can be used in all means of transport, although for the train you need to have a minimum of 20 euros in the card.
The advantage of using the card is that you only pay for the distance you have travelled(checking in and out). However, if you do not have the card, you have to buy a single ticket which costs the maximum distance travelled. If you take some trams in one day, you will pay over the odds.
Download the app 9292 for the public transport or check the website, it is very useful to move into the city.
A good option is the City Card. It includes some museums entry, free public transport, canal cruise and some discounts.
tipS
Rent a bike and enjoy a normal Dutch day.
Take any of the ferries behind Amsterdam Central. They are free and take you to the other side of the city.
I recommend the free tour. They are for free and totally worthy.
Accomodation is quite expensive, although sites like airbnb make it easier.
Check this website in order to know the main events on the dates you visit Amsterdam.
Check this website to know the time and which public transport you need to take in order to arrive at the selected destination.
Amsterdam is a safe city. You can go out at night with no problem at all.